330 North Wabash, International Style skyscraper in downtown Chicago, United States.
The building 330 North Wabash is a tower block in downtown Chicago along the Chicago River with 52 floors clad in black aluminum and glass. The facade rises without setbacks or ornamentation from street level to a height of 212 meters (696 feet).
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed this structure between 1968 and 1969 as his final project in America before his death. Construction was completed in 1973 and the tower initially served as corporate headquarters for IBM.
The name stems from the original tenant, technology firm IBM, which established its regional headquarters here. Today office workers occupy the upper floors while hotel guests pass through the ground-level lobby.
Hotel guests use a dedicated entrance on Wabash Avenue, while office access happens through separate doors. Visitors can enter the public lobby to get a sense of the architecture.
The architect originally planned for all exterior walls to be glass but changed the design due to technical requirements. The computer-operated heating system with heat recovery technology was revolutionary for its time when the tower opened.
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